Any picture sleeve collectors?

[Wie Gehts?]

Remember the picture sleeves which adorned the first edition of most 45rpm singles? Several years back, I used to collect them and at one time I had the sleeve (in stone mint condition) for every commercial release of Elvis, Rick(y) Nelson, and the Beatles. As soon as I would complete a particular collection (say, every sleeve issued by Apple Records), I'd grow tired of the collection and sell it. For me, the pleasure was in the hunt rather than the "possessing."

Different countries would often issue completely different sleeves for the same record. I always considered them to be akin to miniature "works of art," in a sense. Some sleeves command prices not unlike those of famous artworks; a VG+ copy of the infamous "Street Fighting Man" sleeve sold at auction in 1999 for $10,450!

Do any other forum members enjoy this hobby? Joel Whitburn, publisher of the Billboard chart books, is a prominent PS collector. Here are some websites devoted to picture sleeves of one sort or another, if anybody's interested:

http://www.rarebeatles.com/sleeves/sleeves.htm

http://members.aol.com/wandrgsprt/ps.htm

http://member.nifty.ne.jp/t-eban/apfimg.html

http://web.utk.edu/~gallant/ps45.html


http://www.3rdse.com/ <-- awesome site with mega-rarities, currently offline but
should be back up soon

[Andrew]

Originally posted by Dreamcatcher
Do any other forum members enjoy this hobby?

You betcha!:)

[Dr. Winston]

I collected and bought /sold /traded US picture sleeves for 20 years. I never owned a Street Fightin Man sleeve--prob one of the most sought after sleeves there is. The Beatles Please Please Me VJ American promotional sleeve is tough. I had a California Dreamin-Mamas and Papas sleeve that I gave Mama Cass' daughter a copy of--which is a neat story. I have the US Byrds Columbia promo sleeve that housed the red wax version of "Mr Tamb Man" which has a b/w photo of the band on one side and a blurb on the other about their upcoming appearance on "Hullabaloo" --very cool. It was always fun diggin in the old record stores in the mid 70's finding the unpurchased stuff from the 60's for the sleeves. Glad to know there are still some of us out there.

Dr. Winston

[nashreed]

Oh yes. I, unforunately, started collecting 45's late...in the 80's. (I guess, since I was 10 or so (1981), I was born late :( ) But I bought hundreds of 45's in the 80's. I had probably half of the singles that had picture sleeves in the 80's- that's a lot! But by '89, the picture sleeve was dying real quick, and so too, the single, and music itself too :o (at least music that charts in the top 40).
When I was a hardcore Apple Records collector in the 80's, it was already much harder to find picture sleeves from the 70's, and had to pay more than I should have for prime Lennon/Harrison sleeves (Paul didn't seem to have hardly any picture sleeves). The Beatles sleeves were, of course, through the roof. But you could still find plently of Yoko Ono sleeves, (and full albums...sealed!) for dirt cheap. (I wonder why...) My biggest scores were Elastic Oz Band's "God Save Us" and one of the Chris Hodge singles.

nashreed

[Jimbo]

Originally posted by nashreed
Oh yes. I, unforunately, started collecting 45's late...in the 80's. (I guess, since I was 10 or so (1981), I was born late :( ) But I bought hundreds of 45's in the 80's. I had probably half of the singles that had picture sleeves in the 80's- that's a lot! But by '89, the picture sleeve was dying real quick, and so too, the single, and music itself too :o (at least music that charts in the top 40).
When I was a hardcore Apple Records collector in the 80's, it was already much harder to find picture sleeves from the 70's, and had to pay more than I should have for prime Lennon/Harrison sleeves (Paul didn't seem to have hardly any picture sleeves). The Beatles sleeves were, of course, through the roof. But you could still find plently of Yoko Ono sleeves, (and full albums...sealed!) for dirt cheap. (I wonder why...) My biggest scores were Elastic Oz Band's "God Save Us" and one of the Chris Hodge singles.

nashreed

Yo Nashreed:

I also bought hundreds of picture sleeves in the 80s. Really started in the late 70s with punk rock singles. My brothers and I bought a lot of 45s in the 60s and 70s, and we used to cut up the picture sleeves, so we could hang both sides up on the wall!! Aaarghhh! Several Beatles singles (group and solo) met that hideous fate!

When I started working in NYC in the early 80s, I'd go to Tower once a week and buy a stack of 45s with picture sleeves. Loved those non-lp b-sides too, and the custom 45 labels! Got a real nice collection for acts like the Police and Madonna. Maybe some day they'll be worth something!

As a Stones fan, I have a bunch of their picture sleeves from the 70s and 80s, but not too many from the 60s--although I did find "In Another Land" at a garage sale! No "Street Fighting Man" or "Beast of Burden" sleeves, though! :(

[mcow1]

Originally posted by Dreamcatcher
For me, the pleasure was in the hunt rather than the "possessing."


Luckily for me I enjoy both so I still have every picture sleeve I ever bought. Unfortunately most of them, not my Beatles ones, are packed away in storage so all I can do is hope they are still ok. I do have a funny Japanese one of the Stones Let It Bleed. The Japanese sleeves have the title in Japanese with the English translation under it and they have translated it as Let It Breed.

[nashreed]

Oh Jimbo,

It is truly sad that so many picture sleeves have met the fate of being split in half. My mom had a ton of Elvis picture sleeves, all with only one half! I don't get it. Most of the early Elvis ones had the same picture on both sides! But since she put the records in a box sans sleeve (another horror!!), she could hang picture sleeves on the wall. Terrible- really made us want to keep our (me and my brudder's) sleeves perfect.

I think I might have some pretty cool rarities with picture sleeves:
Duran Duran "Hungry Like The Wolf" on the original US Harvest label
Grateful Dead "Touch Of Grey" (gret vinyl)
David Bowie "Blue Jean" (blue vinyl)
Prince "Purple Rain" (purple vinyl)
Is there a price guide for picture sleeves?

nashreed

Jimbo: I just heard a song with your name in it!! "On Blonde Street" Stephen Bishop, from the CD "Blue Guitars"! Freaked me out! (in a good way)

[Jeff H.]

[QUOTE]Originally posted by nashreed


I think I might have some pretty cool rarities with picture sleeves:
Duran Duran "Hungry Like The Wolf" on the original US Harvest label
Grateful Dead "Touch Of Grey" (gret vinyl)
David Bowie "Blue Jean" (blue vinyl)
Prince "Purple Rain" (purple vinyl)
Is there a price guide for picture sleeves?


Hey nashreed,

Is it possible for you to post a pic of that Duran Duran pic sleeve? I'd always heard that "Hungry Like the Wolf" had been issued with a picture sleeve on the US release but I've never seen one. I have almost all of the originals including the one for "Rio" which was only issued as a promo sleeve. The "Purple Rain" colored vinyl 45 isn't really that rare, since the entire original press run was done on purple vinyl. If you have a purple vinyl copy of "When Doves Cry", that one is fairly rare. Only the first 10,000 singles Warner Bros. pressed of that single were on purple vinyl, and were gone within days of it's release. That record ended up selling over 3,000,000 copies. If you're really into Prince rarities, two of his coolest and rarest picture sleeves are the ones for "Why You Wanna Treat Me So Bad" which was his first single to be issued with a pic sleeve and sells in the $50-60 range. And the one for "Delirious" which unfolds into a calender/poster. Not a lot of those were made. That one goes for about $30-40 now.

[TommyTunes]

Absolutely Love'm.

I have about 2000 45's many with the original PS's. Unfortunately, I'm stilling one Can't buy me love to complete my Beatles collection and a few of the Big $$$ Stones ones. I recently found a "Rebel With A Cause" Blowin in the Wind sleeve in MINT condition with the 45, however an offer I couldn't refuse made me part with it. Love those original UK ep's also.

[nashreed]

Hello Jeff,

I'm sorry I can't attach a picture of the Duran Duran sleeve, I am only WebTV fortified, with no scanner or nothin'. My wife really wants a computer this year. She usually gets her way.

The single is US Harvest B-5195, long and short versions. The sleeve cover has a purple background with Duran Duran "Hungry Like The Wolf" Long and Short Version and the Harvest Logo, with the artist and title in the style of the "Rio" album cover. The picture has (clockwise) Roger at the top in a deep blue jacket leaning on John, Simon (red scarf), Nick (periwinkle jacket), Andy (black jacket), and John (with a hat and red silk jacket). (Description provided in case you're familiar with such a picture- I feel like I'm writing for Tiger Beat!) Same everything on the other side. I didn't realize how beat this sleeve is- it even has a split at the bottom :confused: !

How are all of your sleeves holding up? What are your care secrets? I remember my brother going through every single copy of a sleeve to find the best one. I think this one was the only one there was though. I also have "The Reflex" sleeve that's a foldout poster! God, I miss the 80's! :(

nashreed

[Wie Gehts?]

I neglected to include this site in my original post, for those who might be interested:

http://www2.excelr8.net/allowell/rps.html

[Steve Hoffman]

And just think, they all used to be a dollar.

That's a funny picture of The Tokens on that drag strip song sleeve. That blonde guy on the left with the glasses looks totally out crowd! Funny.

[Jeff H.]

That sleeve sounds pretty cool, nashreed. A good way to protect your collectable picture sleeves is to store them in plastic sleeves Take the record out of the sleeve and put it in a separate plain paper sleeve so you don't run the risk of seam splits on the picture sleeve. Sounds like your brother and I are a lot alike. When I was buying 45's, I'd go through the stack to find the most pristine sleeve and record I could. Somehow I've managed to keep my collectible stuff in good shape over the years, though I wish I still had my Beatles pic sleeves which was an almost complete collection. It was just missing the sleeves to the first Capitol EP and "Please, Please, Me". I had a pretty complete collection of 60's Motown picture sleeves also that I was forced to sell.(SIGH):(

[nashreed]

That's sad, I'm sorry.

I always knew about keeping the record and sleeve seperate and all, but, I don't know, I'm one of those weirdos who likes to keep a single together, the way it's meant to be. Just like I have to have the CD in the case exactly front and center with the title right side up, etc.
I don't think I could sleep at night if they were seperated- it would seriously bug me.

nashreed

[mcow1]

Originally posted by nashreed
That's sad, I'm sorry.

I always knew about keeping the record and sleeve seperate and all, but, I don't know, I'm one of those weirdos who likes to keep a single together, the way it's meant to be.
So keep them together in a plastic or mylar sleeve but with the disk in it's own paper sleeve inside.

[Jeff H.]

Originally posted by mcow1

So keep them together in a plastic or mylar sleeve but with the disk in it's own paper sleeve inside.

I forgot to mention that that is what I do with my collectible 45's. I'll slip a thin piece of cardboard inside the plastic sleeve between the picture sleeve and the 45 to keep the record from imprinting on the sleeve and keep the pic sleeve flat.

[TommyTunes]

There are suppose to be some good repro's of the Stones Street Fighting Man out there has anyone come across them. I'd love to get one just to fill a hole in my collection. Jefferson Airplane had some great sleeves in the sixties, that still can be found for fairly resonable prices.